BENGALURU : The University of Calcutta's team won the Azim Premji University's Social Enterprise ‘Idea’ Challenge. This year, the fifth edition of the challenge was on the response to the COVID-19 crisis.
The winning team presented a project titled Jal Kumbi, that creates floating gardens in ponds to cultivate organic vegetables and create employment for the Musahar community, which comprises landless labourers.
The teams from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), New Delhi, and Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, were the first and second runners-up respectively. JMI presented a plan to manufacture biodegradable face masks and sanitary napkins from abaca fibres to reduce the accumulation of waste and a cheaper alternative to disposable masks and sanitary napkins.
IIT-Delhi presented a solution for minimising direct and indirect transmission of COVID through two products named 'Visage' and 'Cov-Ring'. Visage comprises a cotton mask and a PET visor attached to it to prevent droplet transmission. Cov-Ring is a type of hand gear designed to prevent direct skin exposure to surfaces.